Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ the return ❯ Strangely Familiar ( Chapter 8 )

The Return

Chapter 8 - Strangely Familiar

With music blaring in the background and students all jammed into the cafeteria, the dance began. Sakura walked in and squeezed through the crowd until she found her friends.

"Hoe. You guys just had to be the group farthest from the door." She complained when she saw them. They brushed the comment off.

"Hey! Nice outfit." Commented Sashi, with a suggestive grin, which earned him a slap from Miko.

"What!?" he whined. Her outfit was a fitted black bodysuit, long black cape and a hat to match. Her outfit had a metallic blue thread around the edges and every so often you could catch a glimpse of the knee-high black, heeled boots with sparkling blue swirls sewn onto the top edge. Her long honey hair was let loose and flowed over her shoulders and into her face giving her overall appearance a mysterious look. It was obviously a Tomoyo original. She had made it especially for the dance for Sakura.

"I'd have to admit that Tomoyo's out done herself on this one. Saurei agreed with Sashi, shooting a warning glare to Xun, warning him not to say the wrong thing.

He kept his mouth shut and smiled, pleasing his girlfriend.

"Has anyone seen Xiao Lang yet?" Sakura asked. Nobody had, but sudden screams from the front doors told her that he just got there.

Sakura could barely make out the whispers from girls who had already seen him.

"He is the hottest guy I've ever met." Cheered one girl.

"Did you see that outfit? Totally hot…literally." Laughed another.

This chatter enticed Sakura and she wondered what his outfit was. But she didn't have to wait long. A hand crept around her waist and pulled her into their embrace. When she caught the familiar scent of cinnamon she gasped. A deep husky voice whispered into her ears.

"Were you looking for me?" he asked sweetly and let her turn around but keeping her in his embrace.

"Yeah" she smiled and stepped back to look at his clothes.

It was shockingly similar to her own. Like the ceremonial robes he wore when he was ten, he had the same style of hat. But instead of green and gold, it was black with metallic blue edges. His shirt was a deep black with blue flames outlined on the wrists showing the flare of the sleeves. He had a wide black belt like his old robes and long black pants hat also flared, with matching blue flames outlined on the ankles. The finishing touches included a long, plain black cape and plain black shoes.

"Wow!" she exclaimed as he too stared at her outfit.

"Yeah. That style seems so familiar…where did you get that?" he asked her wondering if Tomoyo had started a clothing line already.

"I had one of my friends make it for me. But she doesn't go to this school." She answered. "What about yours?" she wondered aloud.

"These are actually my new family robes. They're hand made, too." He exclaimed proudly for he had a say in the making of his robes.

Sashi, Saurei, Miko and Xun pushed their way through the crowd and finally found Xiao Lang and Sakura. Seeing the two together with their similar costumes made their jaws drop to the floor.

"Did you two plan this?" asked Sashi, who spoke first.

"No." Sakura laughed and closed Xun's jaw bringing most of them back to reality.

"Well, that is the strangest coincidence I have ever seen." Exclaimed Xun. Then him and Sashi glanced at their girlfriends, who were still staring at Xiao Lang with glazed eyes.

"Nu-uh. If I cant then neither can you." Sashi whispered to Miko, snapping both girls' attentions back to the dance.

~~

A slow song began and their friends disappeared leaving Sakura and Xiao Lang to notice that almost every eye was on them pleading for a dance.

"Does everyone want to dance with us?" asked Sakura densely.

"Uh…I think so." He whispered back, but neither of them felt much like dancing so he grabbed he arm and guided her outside to the hall.

When they glanced back to the cafeteria they noticed that only a few couples were dancing and the rest was lined up against the walls waiting for them to return. As soon as the song finished, Miko and Saurei grabbed Sakura and went off leaving Xiao Lang to talk with Xun and Sashi.

"So…are you gonna ask her to dance?" Sashi asked, nudging him in the ribs.

"Yeah. It's so obvious you like her." Added Xun, laughing at Xiao Lang's bewildered look.

"Demo…I never said I liked Sakura. What makes you say that?!?" he protested.

"Who said anything about Sakura?" Xun asked innocently, trying to conceal his growing smile.

"You must have thought that we were because we noticed that you've been staring at her since she went over there." Sashi laughed openly.

"Not only that but you're starting to drool." At this they both broke into peals of laughter.

"What?" he asked. He wasn't listening to them because he was staring over at Sakura, but he had caught on to the just of what they were saying.

"It's not that bad. Almost every guy in this school likes her, too. But they aren't friends with her." He added.

"I don't like her like that." Xiao Lang denied, crossing his arms and lifting his nose slightly trying to convince them of his lie.

Another slow song began and he started to worry about the innocent stares they were giving him. The Eriol-kind.

"Ok then don't think of it as wanting to dance with her, think of it as saving her." Sashi smirked and pointed behind them to where a crowd of guys had cornered her onto a tall stack of tables to try and escape her followers. Without hesitation Xiao Lang pushed his way through the crowd, shoving past lei as she tried to get him to dance, and hopping up beside her. She looked into his eyes and silently pleaded with him to help her. Miko and Saurei were on the floor trying to barricade the guys but couldn't hold out.

"Would the lady honor me with a dance?" he asked as gentlemanly-like as he could and then whispered into her ears.

"Let me help you. I think this might get out of hand soon." She smiled at him, relieved, and followed him off the tables and onto the dance floor.

In the center of the room, she wrapped her arms around his neck and for a few moments got lost in the music and the swaying of their bodies. When he pulled her in closer to him, she didn't resist and rested her head on his shoulder, taking in his wonderful cinnamon scent and closed her eyes. 'This feels like heaven.' She thought contently to herself.

"Thanks for rescuing me back there." She whispered, barely audible to the people around them.

"No problem." He answered back, closing his eyes, too.

"You know, I'm glad we became friends. You aren't like those other guys who just want to use me. You like me for me. They never even tried to get to know me." She breathed into his neck softly.

"Is that a compliment?" he asked, making her smile as they swayed to the music.

"I guess you could say that." She answered.

"Thanks."

"Will you walk me home?" she asked moving back a bit to look into his warm eyes.

"Of course." He said and smiled. Satisfied, she moved back into his embrace and neither said another word.

~~

"They look so kawaii together!!" exclaimed Saurei, who was dancing with her boyfriend. "Yeah. Tomoyo's missing a great camera moment. She'd probably call it: Sakura's first major crush since the Syaoran incident." He laughed as he twirled her.

"Do you think that they'll fall in love?" she asked seriously. "I really want her to be happy. I don't want her to be hurt again."

"I hope she finds love again. I know she's been through a lot. She deserves to be happy." Xun answered but she still looked troubled. "What is it?"

"It's just… I don't know. I feel like this isn't going to go the way we want it to. What if she falls for him and he leaves? Do you think she'd be able to survive another broken heart?" she asked.

"If he leaves her I'd personally hurt him. And I know Miko and Sashi would be, too." He growled looking in the direction of Xiao Lang and Sakura again.

"On a lighter note, they look as though they've known each other forever." She said smiling.

"Yeah." he agreed. "Almost as if that guy never left her. He was a Li too, right? It's almost like Xiao and Syao are one and the same." He added looking down at Saurei. She had a strange look on her face, but he knew right away what she was thinking. "No. No digging." He put simply.

"But what if-"

"No." he said with a warning in his voice. She had been around Miko too long. It was usually her who went digging around for dirt.

"Fine." She resigned and twirled again.

~~

Throughout the entire dance, Xiao Lang and Sakura found comfort in each other's arms. They always found comfort when each slow song began and instantly they were together basking in the warmth radiating from the other's body.

Lei and Jing tried a few times to catch them before they started dancing but they were ignored. Sakura and Xiao Lang seemed inseparable.

Eventually people took the hint and stopped asking them to dance. And although he would never admit it to Xun or Sashi, he was falling for her. Very hard and fast and it scared him a little bit. He never thought anyone could replace his Ying Fa but the girl in his arms was irresistible inside and out.

By the end of the dance, he was thankful to have taken the initiative to dance with her and didn't want it to end. Neither did Sakura. But they reluctantly walked out of the cafeteria along with the rest of the school, holding hands so they wouldn't lose each other in the mass of students.

When they finally made it outside, they found their friends and walked towards the park, laughing and talking about the past hours.

"You should have seen Lei!!" laughed Miko. "She tried everything she could to catch you alone to dance with her, but you were always with Sakura." She told Xiao Lang. He blushed but remained silent.

"Yeah. Jing had the same reaction with Sakura. You two were inseparable." Sashi laughed and nudged Xiao Lang in the ribs.

"No we weren't." protested Sakura futilely, not changing anyone's mind about the 'newest couple'. Xiao Lang on the other hand had an idea.

"Oh Sakura … why deny it to them." he smirked and stopped where he was, making everyone turn around and stare at him. He turned to Sakura, who was looking at him like he was crazy.

"Let's not hide it anymore. I love you and you know you want me" he said dramatically and swept her into his arms. To surprise everyone he engulfed her in a deep passionate kiss. If Sakura hadn't caught on in time, she would have beaten him to death, but instead she played along and kissed back, trying not to laugh.

After a few minutes they parted and glanced back at their friends. Miko almost died of shock. They all had expected denial, but this was too sudden.

"You…but…y-you really…you've only known each other for three weeks!!" stuttered Xun, who could barely manage one sentence.

"Well… if you insist. I guess it was too good to be true. I guess we don't like each other." Xiao Lang laughed.

"Yeah, too good to be true." Sakura smiled. And together they kept walking, leaving their astonished friends behind. They were still trying to sort through the kiss.

"But… you kissed…how…you cant just kiss like that and say it wasn't something!" Miko cried. "How do you think Tomo-chan will feel when I tell her you kissed another guy and she missed it? She yelled using Tomoyo's nickname, and started chasing them. "You can't do that to us!!" she called out. But Sakura just laughed giddily and the group followed them straight to Penguin Park.

"I've got the right swing!" called Sakura, as if she was a child again and raced Xiao Lang for it.

They were only a few feet from them, when the swings started to shake violently. Everyone stopped in their tracks and noticed that the ground beneath them was shaking, too.

When the ground was still again, the others caught up to the pair at the swings.

"What the hell was -" Xiao Lang started but was interrupted by another tremor, far worse than before. Sakura was caught off guard by the sudden trembling and lost her balance, falling right into Xiao Lang and landed right on top of him.

"Ouch. Oh, gomen nasai." She blushed when she saw where she landed, but when the tremors became more turbulent, she tightened her grip on his shirt and put her head against his chest, shutting her eyes as tight as she could.

"It's ok. You didn't hurt me." He whispered, holding her in his arms. She was shaking so much.

'Why is she so scared?' he thought. Then he caught a sickening feeling; the presence of magic was behind the earthquake.

"You'll be alright." He whispered to her, trying his best to make her stop shaking. He kissed her forehead gently and her shaking turned into only slight trembling.

He turned to see where the others went and saw Xun protecting Saurei, crouched next to a bench and Miko and Sashi were hiding under the slide. He looked straight ahead of him and saw millions of bright shining stars. He stared at them until the tremors stopped a few minutes later.

They slowly and shakily got to their feet. Sakura had been so frightened by the earthquake that she clung to Xiao Lang because she, too, had felt the evil magic, and it terrified her. He didn't mind.

"What was that?" he asked again.

"Another stupid earthquake." Sashi answered, dusting himself off.

"What do you mean 'another'?" he asked slightly confused. The last earthquake he remembered was when him and Sakura were confronted with the earth card.

"T-there's been a few earthquakes in the past few months." Sakura spoke up shakily.

"We better be going home. It's pretty dark out, now." Saurei said and Xun agreed with her and together they walked off. Miko and Sashi agreed and took off in the opposite direction.

"Well, I did promise to walk you home didn't I?" Xiao Lang asked, making Sakura smile and feel a bit safer.

"Yeah, I live this way." She said and they walked off towards her home.

~~

"How could that tramp kiss my Xiao Lang!?!" screamed Lei, furious that they would kiss.

"Hey! It was your Xiao Lang who kissed her." Jing yelled back. They had followed the group a few meters away and saw the kiss. They hid in the bushes and followed them.

"I'll deal with it later. It's too late to think." She huffed while trying to stifled a yawn. She walked out of the bushes and disappeared down the street.

'You know, she's not so bad when you get to know her, I guess.' He thought and walked the other way.